Category Archives: SPAR
USA: Technip Wins FEED Contract for Mad Dog Phase 2 Project
Technip was awarded a front end engineering design (FEED) contract by BP Exploration & Production Inc. This contract covers the design of a Spar hull and mooring systems for the Mad Dog Phase 2 Project, located near Green Canyon Block 825 in the Gulf of Mexico.
This first award comes under the framework of the 10-year Spar platform master services agreement signed in 2011.
The Mad Dog Phase 2 Spar will be located near the first Mad Dog Spar delivered by Technip for BP in 2004, and installed on Green Canyon 782. Detailed engineering for the new Spar is scheduled to start during the second half of 2012.
Technip’s operating center in Houston, Texas, will execute the contract with support from the center in Pori, Finland.
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Aker Solutions to Design World’s Largest Spar Platform for Statoil
Aker Solutions has been awarded a FEED (front-end engineering and design) contract from Statoil to design the world’s largest Spar platform for the Aasta Hansteen field development in the Norwegian Sea.
With a total hull length of 193 meters and a draught of 170 meters, the Aasta Hansteen (formerly named Luva) Spar platform will be the largest of its kind. A Spar platform is a cylinder shaped floating offshore installation. Aasta Hansteen will be the first Spar platform on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), and also the world’s first Spar platform with condensate storage capacity – a so called Belly-Spar.
The Belly-Spar concept is an exclusive Aker Solutions design. The ‘belly’ refers to the increased diameter on part of the circular shaped hull, where the condensate storage tanks are located. This gives the Aker Solutions’ Belly-Spar its characteristic shape.
Henning Østvig, head of Front-End & Technology in Aker Solutions says: “The Aasta Hansteen Spar will be the first production platform on the NCS with steel catenary risers. With a water depth of 1300 meters, this is probably the only riser technology that can meet the challenges on the Aasta Hansteen field”.
The steel catenary risers are made of self-supporting steel pipes in a bow shape between the platform and the seabed. The shape helps the risers compensate for the motions on the floating facility.
Innovation
“The Belly-Spar concept is a result of the innovative spirit and culture among our engineers, who have come up with the right solutions for the challenging conditions on the Aasta Hansteen field,” says Valborg Lundegaard, head of Engineering business area in Aker Solutions.
The mooring system for Aasta Hansteen Spar platform consists of a set of polyester lines. “There are currently no installations on the NCS with polyester mooring. Aasta Hansteen may be the first, and it will definitely be operating in the deepest water,” says Henning Østvig.
The FEED study will be completed in the third quarter of 2012. The contract value is undisclosed.
Aasta Hansteen
The field was discovered in 1997 and lies 300km offshore in the Vøring area. The licence partners are Statoil (75 per cent), ExxonMobil (15 per cent) and ConocoPhillips (10 per cent).
Aker Solutions’ contract party is Aker Engineering & Technology AS.
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Spar Transportation and Installation (video)
SPAR: The robust, reliable deepwater solution
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Shell Perdido: moving the spar into place (video)
Tour the Perdido platform, spar and underwater equipment with this fly-by animation.
Shell has been a leader in deep-water exploration and production for the last 30 years. Perdido in the Gulf of Mexico is one of our most challenging deep-water projects. Shell has a 35% interest in the project and is the operator. Perdido is in a water depth of some 2,450 metres (8,000 feet). First production from Perdido was on March 31, 2010.
Key facts
Location:
Gulf of Mexico, US
Depth:
~2,450 metres (8,000 feet)
Interests:
Shell 35% (operator), Chevron 37.5%, BP 27.5%
Fields:
Great White, Tobago, Silvertip
Peak production:
100 kboe/d
Key contractors:
Technip, Kiewit, FMC Technologies, Heerema Marine Contractors
Technology
Perdido, moored in ~2,450 metres (8,000 feet) of water, is the world’s deepest direct vertical access spar. The spar acts as a hub for and enables development of three fields – Great White, Tobago, and Silvertip. It gathers, processes and exports production within a 48-kilometre (30-mile) radius. Tobago, in ~2,925 metres (9,596 feet) of water, will be the world’s deepest subsea completion. The Perdido platform peak production will be 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Environment and society
Social and environmental responsibility is a central pillar of Shell’s operations. Shell’s Gulf of Mexico operations have a long association with the city of New Orleans, and this is reflected in the contribution the company made to many recovery programmes after Hurricane Katrina. The Shell Coming Home campaign and sponsorship of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – a key event in the city’s on-going recovery – helped build confidence in the city’s future. Shell is also involved in projects such as wetlands restoration on the Texas/ Louisiana coast.
Current developments
The Perdido spar was constructed by Technip in Pori, Finland and began its 13,200-kilometre (8,202-mile) journey to Texas in May 2008, arriving in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2008. The 170-metre (555-foot) cylindrical spar was secured to the sea floor and Shell completed the installation of the drilling and production platform on top of it. Around 270 staff living on the platform and an adjacent floating hotel, or flotel, completed the commissioning and hook-up required to produce first oil.
There are 22 direct vertical access wells from the spar, with an additional 13 tiebacks from subsea completions. The Perdido hull is nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower and weighs the same as 10,000 large family cars.
The Noble Clyde Boudreaux platform drilled the production wells. We set a world record in December 2008 with the deepest completed offshore production well at about 2,852 metres (9,356 feet) below the water’s surface. Another well currently being drilled in the Tobago field will go deeper at around 2,925 metres (9,627 feet).
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Continents of the World
Mb50's "Liquid Mud" Rant 